Dear All,
Hope everyone is well. To “answer the mail-”
David-thanks and Andy Nix from Rover Racks (now Voyager Racks) made the faring for the roof rack; thus it “came with” my Voyager Rack. Andy was always curious how it performed, and I think it really helps. I believe you (or perhaps someone else) asked me what I thought of it previously, and I think it is a needed piece of kit for highway driving (at speed). But two improvements I have thought of: 1) bolt it on rather than glue it so you can remove it if you want/need (like accessory lights); 2) make the side pieces longer and fit to where the rack moves up and curves with the roof of the vehicle. Ostensibly this would make it more aerodynamic and I think look a bit cleaner. In terms of the texture/color of the material (mine is some form of plastic, perhaps light fiberglass), I am rather undecided, but black seems alright (especially for you as you like black!) A good friend once did tell me that it makes the truck look like a hearse.
I didn’t know you had problem with your faring. I glued mine on (Andy didn’t do it), but I think it was a custom, one-off job and not the same as the faring you have. Perhaps the gluing strengthens the faring and keeps it from rattling around?
Brokenneckcp,
NASdiesel is correct: those are Goodyear Wrangler MTR’s! I had written some time ago in a previous post about the tires. Bottom Line: great tire, but Goodyear no longer makes the MTR (now with Kevlar sidewalls) in our 19” tire (…?!@%!) Hopefully they will start production in our size again…but for now, David seems to be the tire guru and the Cooper Zeon’s appear to be the best tire in 19”. As everyone has commented on…you could always get the neato Compomotive 18” rims and fit better off-road tires. But, that requires more money…and some of us are married (not to our trucks).
MBW,
The front (or engine sump) skid plate is OEM. Only reason it is OEM is because I wanted it installed before I shipped the truck to Africa and didn’t have much time to do homework on a then new production vehicle. Lots of folks make engine sump skid plates in steel or aluminum…and you will need to match the engine plate with a heavy bumper if you will be installing an after-market bumper. Honestly though, the OEM skid plate (made by MANTECH in the UK I believe) looks pretty sharp and works great: I have actually broken big rocks into little rocks with it and it doesn’t even look scratched.
The Voyager rack is pretty easy and straightforward to install…if you have three-four people when you actually put the rack on. The steel is quality and well-worked (welded and powder coated). The danger with the rack is overloading it and stressing the roof…not the strength of the rack! As David said-the ladder is also a “must have” item and is pretty easy to install. There are a few little things which are annoying, such as what David mentioned about the ladder rungs interfering with the rear camera and the spacing of the rear door latch assembly (I am also fiddling with this and hope it is not the cause of my camera fault problem), but the accessories have been very much used by me and I always recommend Voyager Rack’s gear to folks when they ask. If you want some specifics send me a PM and I can reply.
The “frame sliders” are a bit more complicated. They are not really frame sliders at all…but sill protectors. I have jacked straight from the “frame sliders” with my hi-lift (and have photos)…but at great risk. The sills aren’t strong enough to support the weight of the vehicle alone and were never designed for that (and I did speak with a Land Rover engineer who confirmed that was a really bad idea). In terms of acting as a sill guard and nerf-bar/step, however, they have seen a lot of use. One would be amazed how much banging into things one does while driving about. Trees, tree stumps, big rocks, little rocks, brush, etc. The door is curved out, which gives you more room and looks fancy…but means it sticks out of the trail and bangs into things; the sill guards with nerf bars help keep things in check. Thus, if you are really going off-road, you need the “frame sliders.” Please check out Tactical Rovers frame slider, as I think the square shape is nicer and they have a model that will bolt to the frame and protect some other sensitive stuff down there like the air compressor assembly (you don’t want a big rock to take that out of action!) I think that would be a better choice. As I mentioned in my “wish list,” I want a custom steel sill guard with square nerf bars/steps that will protect more underbody as well as bolt directly to the frame and incorporate outriggers to jack directly with a Hi-Lift.
The other underbody protection by Rasta 4X4 has been pretty well used as well. In French, skid plates are called “skis”, which I always thought was really silly…until I was driving in deep sand and literally was skiing on the sand! You can hear the sand and rocks whooshing and banging under the plates. This really happens because the EAS brings you down to mid-range height and the ruts or tracks are dug in by vehicles with a higher suspension height. Anyway-all of those have gotten some workouts and done well. I like the aluminum plates and think Rasta does a good job—and is quick to deliver and professional. Be forewarned, however, that the plates are tricky to install. What I thought would be a morning job ended up taking three days and I needed a lot of help from my bush mechanic (I even had to pay him for this job). He had to fabricate some parts to hold bolts and nuts in place while you are getting everything aligned. Of course, once you finally figure out the system it makes it easier to take the plates on and off…but they can still be a bit troublesome to fiddle with. In my case, these have in fact proven invaluable to protect the transmission and transfer case, so well worth the money and time (the aluminum radiator guards, which are a big pain in the butt to install, may not be as worth it—that depends on you).
To get back to your final posting: all the accessories were used off-road. I can’t tell you if we would have broken something without the gear…but it is certainly possible looking back on it. And the roof-rack is really useful (which means you need the ladder…how to you plan on getting up there?) I did make custom flooring for my rack (wood), and would recommend that you use some kind of flooring. In terms of wind noise…there is noise, even with my faring, but it is not too bad. In terms of fuel economy…all I can say is that it is a high-performance V8 5.0L engine and is going to eat gas. All this junk bolted onto the vehicle will naturally make it less streamlined, heavier, and less fuel efficient (again, assuming the LR4 could be considered a fuel efficient machine).
One thing I had asked the forum a few weeks back regards a product which is made in South Africa and allows you to raise your roof rack up to the ceiling of your garage and store it there when not needed; it uses hooks and wires with a gearing system so you can raise and lower your roof rack solo (assuming it is balanced). This seems like a good compromise for folks who want to do off-roading on weekends and get-aways but don’t want to deal with all that junk on the roof when driving around town (particularly with height clearance, noise, etc). I am thinking about getting one for when/if I go back to the states or Europe and bring the LR4. Perhaps you would be interested in this?
Best to everyone!
Land Rover Joe
